The State - News from Dec. 18, 1986

Federal investigators said engine failure has been ruled out as the cause of the crash of a plane into a crowded shopping mall in Concord a year ago. Seven people, including the pilot, were killed and 71 were injured when a twin-engine Beechcraft Baron flown by James Graham slammed into the Sunvalley Mall last Dec. 23 after it missed a landing at Buchanan Field in heavy fog. The National Transportation Safety Board said its inspection of the plane’s engines turned up no evidence that they failed before the craft crashed at the mall packed with holiday shoppers. Examination of the engines was delayed because the pilot’s widow, who faces numerous lawsuits related to the crash, had asked that she be allowed to have a representative present. A judge denied her request. The NTSB said that with engine failure ruled out, they would concentrate on the possibility of pilot error.